Saturday, October 31, 2015

Welcome to Saturday Snippets where I
present to you some fun and interesting reads from a variety of genre's. I'm
also giving 1 lucky blog commentator a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card.
Check these stories out...

Kingdom of Celosia: Hearts On Fire Amongst Cold Shadows by Crystal St. Clair

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Princess Faith faces a life of duty to the Kingdom of
Celosia, but she dreams of freedom. She is daily reminded of the burden she will one day carry
as she is educated to become a Queen... The greatest of these reminders is a pendant given to her by
her mother which is imbued with magical properties. Matters of the heart also
hinder Faith from accepting her role. She is engaged to Prince Merek, but has
no feelings for him. She secretly longs for true love, despite the fact that
her rank keeps her from loving the man she desires most, the stable-hand
Justus. Feeling trapped by the arrangement, there is little she wouldn't
consider doing to stop the wedding, but it seems her fate is sealed.

On the borders of their land is the Dark Forest, a home for
many creatures with elemental powers of untold might. In that realm, the Troll
King plots to kill her father and the wolves in his court are on the hunt for
her, believing she is easy prey. But Faith is much stronger than they suspect,
and against all odds, she sets out to protect those she loves.

Armed with her bow, riding on the back of her trusted mount,
Ruby, she must confront the forces of evil that threaten to take everything
from her and conquer them in the name of Celosia.BUY LINK

Not Just a Friend by Laura Jardine

Genre: Contemporary Romance

“If he asked for my number, there must be something wrong
with him.” Maya stuffed a bite of waffle into her mouth and waited for her
friends to contradict her. “Don’t say that!” Kristy’s fork clattered to her plate.
“There is nothing wrong with you.”“It’s not that I think I’m a bad person,” Maya said.

“But past experience has taught me that any guy who’s
interested in me is somehow defective.” Take her ex-fiancé, for example. Justin
was a police officer, but it later turned out he was also a drug dealer. And he
cheated on her. Yeah, Maya sure knew how to pick them. Her previous boyfriend
was fired for stealing from his employer.

Allison asked for a coffee refill then said, “You’ve just
had some bad luck. Don’t let it stop you.”

Maya sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Come on.” Kristy reached across the table and placed her
hand on top of Maya’s. “You’ve hardly dated in the past four years.”

And everyone she’d met for a first date was someone Kristy
had set her up with. Les and John and Anton. Although they were all nice
enough, Maya hadn’t been on a second date because none of them had interested
her. Not only was she unable to attract men who weren’t losers, but she'd never
liked the nice guys anyway. She sure was great at this dating business. At
least today she had lots of strong coffee and a big plate of banana waffles
with whipped cream to comfort her. Plus a couple of friends she’d known since
university. Brunch at the cheap diner near campus was something they still did
occasionally. Life wasn’t all bad.

“I’m telling you,” she said, “there’s got to be something
wrong with Tyler or he wouldn’t have asked for my number.”

“But you’re going out with him,” Kristy insisted. “When he
calls—”

"Hell, maybe he won’t even call. That wouldn’t surprise me.”

“I bet he’ll call,” Allison said.

Maya snorted. “What makes you so sure? You don’t need to say
stuff like that to make me feel better.” She drowned her last waffle in maple
syrup. “Either Tyler won’t call, or he’ll call and prove himself an asshole.
Hopefully sooner rather than later. But fine. If he calls, I’ll go out with him
just so I can say I did.”

“It’ll go well,” Kristy said. “You’ll see.”

“I need some of your happy pills.”

Maya wasn’t quite as hopeless as she acted. The Justin
debacle was a long time ago now, and she had a kernel of hope that maybe, just
maybe, it would all work out for her. Kristy and Allison were in happy
relationships, as were three of her younger siblings. And a guy had asked for
her number the other day. There was hope. Maybe just a little, but there was
some, wasn’t there? But she didn’t say that out loud, even to her closest
friends. That wasn’t who Maya Gregory was to the world. Not anymore.

Fall Into Darkness by Valerie Twombly

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Ashley wandered through Eli’s bedroom, noting how bare it
was. Except for a queen four-poster bed, a dresser, and a fireplace, there was
nothing else here. She wondered how lonely he must have been to never make a
real home in one place. Eva had told her this small cabin in the north woods
was always his favorite and that was why she’d asked to be brought here. After stoking a fire, she donned the short red nightie that
hardly covered her breasts and left her long legs exposed. There was no way he
could resist, not if he were half as needful as she, and something told her he
would be more so. She hoped he’d be so lust ridden he’d complete the bond.
Guilt filled her for what she was about to do, but she’d do anything to save
him. She’d worry about the aftermath later. The double-winged tattoo on the
back of her hip burned, and she’d learned it meant Eli was close by. Was he
watching from a distance? She stepped into the soft light of the fire, knowing
it cast a sensual glow across her skin. Yeah, she was pulling out all the
stops. A cool breeze whispered across her skin causing her nipples to tighten. He was here.

She turned, and when her gaze fell upon him standing in the
shadows she gasped. His naked chest glistened in the firelight that reflected
across the room. A thick rope of muscles coiled just under his skin, and her
fingertips itched to touch him. Dark jeans, settled so low on his hips, she
could see the dusting of hair that led to his sweet spot. However, it was the
massive black wings that stretched out and brushed the ground that really drew
her attention. Her fallen angel was dark and sinister, yet every fiber of her
being said he’d never harm her. He’d come to her and she was determined to
finish what they’d started.

She was determined to save his soul. “Eli.” She took a step
closer.

He flashed a set of fangs. “I’ve never been weak in my
entire life, but with you… You are my weakness. Look at me Ashley, I’m one step
away from claiming you. Being mated to me will be a fate worse than death.”

Another step. Careful not to scare him off, she stopped
short of being able to reach out and touch him. Opening her mind, he could feel
everything she did should he choose to.

“You’re wrong. Walking away from you would be a worse fate.
You’ve touched something deep inside me. Fate brought us together because we
need each other.” She took the last step and placed her hands on his chest.

He stiffened beneath her touch. “I need you and I don’t mean
just the physical. I mean emotionally as well. You have my heart as well as my
body. All of me, it belongs to you.”

Jack the Stripper by Jennifer Macaire

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Taking a deep breath, she turned the page to the last
photograph. In that last picture she posed proudly on the front steps. She was
wearing her police uniform. It was her first morning on the job, and the last
photo her grandmother ever took. A small sigh escaped her and she touched the
picture lightly, remembering the crisp feel of the uniform and the almost
bursting-with-happiness feeling she’d had. A week later someone had pushed her
grandmother down and stolen her purse. When she fell, she’d broken her hip and
died not long after from what the doctors called “complications.”Brianna knew all about complications. Her whole life was one
complication after another and it didn’t seem like things were going to change.

When Jack got back it was late. Brianna had sandwiches on
the coffee table. She’d left the albums out, and Jack took a sandwich and
poured over the photos, making her tell everyone’s stories.

But there was one more album. A folder, more like it, with
just some newspaper clippings in it. Brianna had hesitated for a long time
before getting this one out. Finally, when Jack had exhausted all the stories
about her grandmother and her camera, she slid the folder from beneath the
bottom album and pushed it across the coffee table toward him.

He took it and opened it on his lap. Then he looked up at
her, his expression unreadable.

Brianna crumpled her
napkin in her hands. “I know you say you have some holes in your memory. I
thought perhaps this would help.”

He fingered the clippings, then nodded, and held them up to
study. “My parents didn’t come to my funeral because they’re dead. But I
recognize my aunts and uncles, my grandparents even. That’s my cousin Joey and
his twin, Melanie.” He closed his eyes. “It’s like standing in the surf. The
waves come at me, and I can’t stop them.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s all right.” He ran his finger over the newspaper.

“Do you want to call anyone? Your cousins?”

He gave a laugh, but it sounded more like a sob. “No. They
were at my funeral. They won’t believe me, or they’ll be horrified … like you
were.”

Brianna was going to tell him she hadn’t been horror-struck,
but she couldn’t. She’d been so frightened she’d peed her pants. She’d never
been as shocked as that moment, when Jack had said his name and turned around.
If she’d had a weak heart, she’d be dead right now. As it was, she had somehow
accepted that Jack was back, but he wasn’t the same Jack she’d known.

She didn’t feel the same way about him. There was a
difference. She’d only known him for about a month. What would it be like for
his family, who had known and loved him all his life?

“They deserve to know though,” she said.

“I’ll be a monster to them,” said Jack. He smoothed the
newspaper clipping over his knee and a faint smile tugged his lips. “There was
a nice crowd there that day. And there you are, right next to Joey.”

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Find Your Next Great Read Here

Hello Reader Peeps!Welcome to Saturday Snippets where I present to you some fun and interesting reads from a variety of genre's. I'm also giving 1 lucky blog commentator a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card. Check these stories out...

Intuition by Crystal St. Clair

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

MY NAME IS DESTINY, A FACT I APPRECIATE, SINCE I'VE ALWAYS
FELT LIKE I HAVE ONE.

I live in the fast lane, which runs right through a world of
expensive cars, designer bags, and top-of-the-line everything else – none of
which I get to experience.

I'm not fancy; I never have been. If there's one thing I
know, it's that the world is quick to put labels on everyone and everything,
but what a label can't do, is tell you who you really are.

I've come a long way from who I used to be. Ten years ago, I
was dependent on others, lacking in direction, and ... in love with Sebastian
Medina.

He captured me with his chocolate-brown eyes and his
reckless heart. I gave him everything I had to offer back then, even the most
sacred parts of my heart and body. When he left, he took my virginity with him.
My heart was in tatters.

So, I started trying to put the pieces back together. I went
to law school, became independent. Now, he's come back, and the only thing I
haven't been able to do is mend my broken heart.

I've followed my intuition, and let him back into my life,
but it's carried with it a price. His past has come to haunt us, and the life
I've carefully constructed for myself is in danger of being lost ...

Remains by Belle Antoinette

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Most believe supernatural beings to only exist in fairy
tales. For Victoria Wesley, a hot-headed teenage witch with a chip on her
shoulder, the supernatural world is all too real.

Four years ago her parents were slaughtered for inexplicable
reasons. As the sole survivor of her family, Victoria sets out to bring their
killers to justice. In her determination to find out who was responsible she
meets a group of young witches and a mysterious vampire named Adrien who make
her question everything she thought she knew.

The world of the supernatural is far more complicated and
dangerous than she ever realized. When ulterior motives are revealed knowing
who to trust proves to be the hardest decision she’s ever made. When the lines
between right and wrong are blurred Victoria has to figure out how far you can
go before you become one of the bad guys. Will Victoria be able to get what she
wants without losing sight of who she is?

Wait For Me by Eleanor Green

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Cooper Sterling has been in love with Briley Sheffield since
fifth grade, when he asked her to marry him on wide-ruled paper crafted into
the fold-and-tuck square.

But life isn’t that neat and tidy.

Years later, defending Briley from an attack lands Cooper in
prison, powerless to protect her and unable to convince her to wait for him.

When a failed engagement opens up the possibility of a
relationship with Cooper, a mysterious envelope threatens to slam shut every
door in Briley’s path. Now she must choose . . . risk the stability of
friendship she has with Cooper, or put everything on hold and solve the
mysteries of her family secrets.

Wait for Me is a steamy full-length, contemporary romance.
This is book one in the LoveStruck Series and can be read as a standalone.

Against The Darkness by A.M. Griffin

Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult

“Shayla,”
I say with my voice in a mixture of a whisper and whine. I’m scared to say
anything louder.

Stomp, stomp, slide.

My left.

I peer
in that direction, lifting my sword, pointing it to whatever will come at me.
It shakes in the air, my hands almost too unsteady to hold it.

Stomp, stomp, slide.

Shayla
approaches my back. “Your turn.”

Stomp, stomp, slide.

“Something
is here,” I choke out.

She
inhales sharply and steps back, away from me. Only after I feel the tug on the
back of my shirt do I realize that she has me, pulling me with her. I take a
slow deliberate step back and then another, letting her guide me as I keep my
eyes peeled for them. We move to the far corner of the room. All the while the stomp, stomp, slide comes closer and
closer, louder and louder.

Briefly
I wonder if they can hear it in the basement. They have to. Will they come up
and save us? Could they even risk it? I don’t think so. We’re on our own until
the aliens leave.

I know
we’re at the wall when Shayla stops abruptly and she leads me to rest my back
on the wall. We’re standing side-by-side, but I get the feeling that I should
stand in front of her. I’m the only one with a weapon. So I do.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

The Sorcerer's Spell by Dani Kristoff

Annwyn goes to bed
dreaming of making love with her dead husband and wakes up in the body of
another woman, a woman who is having hot sex with Dane, a powerful sorcerer.
Her body has been stolen by Nira, a sorceress, who feeds her magical power
through sex - the kinkier the better.

The curse she laid on
Dane turns him into a werewolf every full moon and to complicate matters,
Dane's werewolf friend Rolf, succumbs to Nira when she temporarily repossess
her body, causing jealously and confusion. But time is running out for Dane, as
he will be a werewolf forever unless he can break the curse.

Rafael from the
Collegium of Sorcerers is the only one Dane trusts to help them, but when a
wider conspiracy is revealed, it's up to Annwyn and her developing magical
powers to save Dane before it's too late. But can she seduce an unwilling
werewolf to lure the sorceress into a final confrontation?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dani will be awarding an eCopy of
Sorcerer's Spell to 3 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour,
and choice of 5 digital books from the Impulse line to a randomly drawn host.

His hands on her skin distracted her. He was slipping
inside, hot and eager. God, she thought, this is intense. She let out a moan.
Her dreams had never felt so alive, so real. She was moving with him as he
pushed inside her then eased away, only to thrust harder. She found it hard to
concentrate. It had been so long since she had been intimate with anyone. ‘Let
you in?’ she panted, feeling her body press against the mattress with the
weight of her phantom lover. ‘Where? Let you in where?’

His kisses were hard and urgent, kindling a fire deep within
her belly. ‘Let me into you. It’s the only way we can be together again.’

Annwyn thought he was already inside her. How much deeper
could he go? But he needed her, needed her to open to him on every level.

In the haze of her dream she caved in, surrendered so deeply
as she reached out to him that her body shook from the force of it. ‘Come to
me. Come in to me.’

The face materialised as the haze of dream lifted, the smile
vicious and victorious. In her confusion, Annwyn did not realise until it was
too late that it was a woman’s face, with piercing green eyes, alive with a
power she could not fathom. It was not Thomas at all.

Annwyn was ripped away. Her consciousness spun into
darkness, all the while the man in her dream was making love to her, thrusting
into her as her body responded.

Annwyn was tied to this action, linked inexorably to each
thrust, each caress, each tantalising kiss. It was as if she was caught and
held by a spell and there was no way she couldbreak out of it. Her body was
owned by that man, that touch. She had no will to stop him. She was being taken
high in the sky where the clouds flowed and drifted, leaving her with barely a
sense of the world she inhabited.

For what seemed like a long time she floated, tumbling free
with no bed, no room, no house around her. Burning in her ears, stomach
heaving, and skin screaming, the sensations overwhelmed her. The only constant
was those large strong hands, lifting her hips, angling them for the next
thrust, hot mouth on her throat, biting without wounding.

Down, down to earth Annwyn plunged. She cried out with the
force of the movement, the abrupt arrival. The crease of the sheets stuck into
her back. An orange-tinged hue haloed the bed and beyond light and dark waltzed
in the corner of the room.

Screwing her eyes shut, she avoided looking. There was
something very wrong in what was happening to her. This was not Thomas’s body
on her, in her. She jerked once, sucking in a breath. Then, opening her eyes,
she screamed. Screamed like the devil.

Dani Kristoff
is an Australian author based in Canberra, the nations capital. She delights in
reading and writing paranormal romance. For the last 13 years, she been
concentrating her efforts on science fiction, fantasy and horror. She's just
finished up a Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Canberra. Her
day job is in the public service. Her partner is also a writer and they live is
a big house overlooking the mountains.

Dani has two
paranormal series going. Bespelled with Escape Publishing, the prequel
Spiritbound out in April 2015 and there is more in train. This series is based
on witches and is mostly set in Sydney. She also has a darker more erotic
series set in a different world system, starting with The Sorcerer's Spell, to
be followed up with The Changling Curse. The Sorcerer's Spell is based in
Canberra and features sorcerers and werewolves and other magical creatures. It
has a particularly nasty sorceress for a villan who uses sex to fuel her magic.